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SUTDY IN OIL: LADY WITH BIRD, by                    
First Line: You will build a cabin, secluded and aloof
Last Line: That you were standing under that tall elm tree.


You will build a cabin, secluded and aloof,
With a morning-glory trellis, and a moss-gloried roof.
And you will think to settle in your lonely grove,
With a hob for your kettle, and a cat for your love.

But some new evening, when the young stars smile,
And the tree frogs are grieving down by the stile,
You will come tripping among your hollyhocks,
You will come stepping along your flag walks,

And suddenly you'll notice much to your surprise
That a wood-dove is watching with a dream in his eyes;
A wood-dove is watching from an elm hard by,
A sad gray wood-dove, and that will be I.

You'll not be sorry, and you'll not be glad,
But you'll turn in a hurry with a way you've always had;
And I will follow after, or maybe fly before,
And light upon the rafter of your little green door.

And I will make you music, sad and sadder still
Than a late leaf shadow, or a lost whippoorwill;
And you will stand and listen, and presently you'll say,
"I really didn't want you, but I guess you'll have to stay."

And we will always wonder how it could be
That you were standing under that tall elm tree.





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